Saturday, September 14, 2013

Teaser | Sliding Beneath the Surface by Doug Dillon

Title:Sliding Beneath the Surface
The St. Augustine Trilogy Book 1 Author: Doug DillonGenre: Young Adult

Teaser

“No trick, really,“ Carla said with this super serious face. When she spoke, her voice came out almost in a whisper.

Oh man, that did it. I mean Carla doesn‘t lie, stretch the truth, or anything like that. “Remember when I told you about Lobo helping me to control my unconscious ability to move things without touching them?“ she asked, her voice a little stronger.

“Uh, sure.“ I sat there looking at her in awe.

“You see, Lobo … well, has also been educating me so that I can now touch things with my conscious mind—to do so by thinking about it. An aluminum can is light and soft, so we use them in my training.“

“Do we have your full attention now?“ Lobo asked, as I struggled to accept Carla‘s explanation.

“Oh yeah,“ I said, stressing each word in order to leave no doubt in the man‘s mind. Even so, I still couldn‘t get over Carla having such an amazing ability. As I wondered how she could do something like that, I put the crumpled aluminum on the coffee table in front of me.

“Good,“ Lobo replied. “Now we can proceed.“ After getting out of his chair, he grabbed the carved white ball sitting on the coffee table, and suddenly tossed it in my direction—underhanded and high in the air. Without thinking, I grabbed the thing as it came down with both hands, and was surprised it felt so light. When the ball hit my hands, there was a clicking sound.

“Have you ever seen anything like that?“ Lobo asked after sitting back down.

“Yeah, I just remembered. There‘s one like it at the Ripley‘s Believe It or Not Museum.“ I held it in one hand and brushed my other hand over the intricate designs and holes carved into the surface. Gradually it became clear to me that the ridges under my fingers tips were actually dragons curling around the openings. “What‘s it made of?“

“Mammoth ivory,“ Carla replied. “Lobo has it shipped in and then he does carvings.“

“A piece of mammoth tusk?“ I said in wonder, studying it even more intently. Inside all the holes cut out of the surface, I could see another, completely movable, but smaller ball. Carved into it were odd shaped stars and more holes leading to yet another ball farther down. Beyond that, another ball, and so on. All of the balls I could see or touch with my index finger moved. That‘s why the thing was so light, it had been carved out on the inside, layer-by-layer.

Author Bio
Doug Dillon has been writing for adults and young people since 1984, especially in the paranormal realm. An award winning educator, he spent many years as a classroom teacher, school administrator, and coordinator of programs for high-risk students. Prentice Hall, Harcourt, Mitchell Lane Publishers, Boys' Life magazine, Learning Magazine and The Orlando Sentinel have all published his work.